Australorps breed Thread

[Bens-Hens]

Hi Ben,
don't have much experience with blues, but I've posted numbers of times re red appearing in blacks, so it may have come from the black/BA side of the blue mix. It seems the 'right red' to have come from the black side. It only seems to turn up in boys, usually in the hackle, so your placement is unusual. However, I must agree that it usually becomes more pronounced rather than moulting out.
Hey, Dan, hope you didn't think I meant "fun" at your expense, just that you seem to get our strange sense of humor.
Cheers Geoff

Thanks mate,

Will keep an eye on him and post some better pics in a week or so and see how the patch develops.

So today my australorp pullet jumped on one of my other pullets backs and grabbed the feathers on the back of her head. Do some pullets do that? Is she just figuring out pecking order or is she a really late bloomer. She is 24 weeks old. Pretty small comb.

We have a BA who does this too, climbs onto a smaller Lav Araucana pullet. Even does the tail to the side part too. We don't have any sexually mature roo's at the moment, so she seems to have taken the lead.

 

[chickisoup]

 
Hey there hellbender. Something I wanted to share with you. I think you might get a kick out of it. I tried your hold and squeeze method. 
Peppa was acting up again running up behind me to peck the back of my legs.
So I picked her up and held her tight against my side for awhile squeezing but not too hard so as not to hurt her.
Later when I went to hang up my coat I saw something white toward the backside of my coat. What the?
OMG! It was Peppa poo! 
I don't think I will use your method again.     ~Dee~ 

Peppa is more likely thinking there is food on your leg. Some of my pullets will peck at one of my freckles sometimes. It is not likely to be aggression.

Sorry she made mess on your coat!

I have one girl that has always pulled on my pants when she wants to be picked up.

 

[hellbender]

I have one girl that has always pulled on my pants when she wants to be picked up.

I honestly believe that fundamentally vicious hens

are few and far between. Over the years, I've seen a few that were cranky but never one that I'd be afraid to turn my back on.

 

[chasinthedream]

Must make a more useful contribution. Something else from our premier breeder. George suggests that we introduce every 3-4 years, a male that has a lighter colored beak. Why? I'll let him speak. " If you continually breed from birds with black beaks, black eyes in Australorps then the top color will be affected, along with sole colors. White on the underside of feet will appear bruised in color and in some cases comb and face, rather than fine in texture and red, will be spotted with black and coarse." Well, bugger me! I never knew that! Hope it's not too technical, but this is a serious thread - well, most of the time anyway!
Cheers Geoff

Keep up the contributions Geoff! This is great!
I have heard about the red hackle feathers leading to green sheen, but the sole and beak colours are new info.

What about size? People here seem to think bigger is better, even larger than the Standard. I suppose the issue relates to dual purpose.

 

[thedragonlady]

That's very interesting. I've seen some red pop up in a couple of my cockerels, so I wonder if this could be why. I've also read that red and white feathers in colored breeds could be a sign of iron or copper deficiencies.

It can also be caused in birds by an iodine deficiency. A friend had a yellow crowned Panama parrot she had raised from a chick. He was supposed to be green , and yellow.She moved to GA. from the coast of FLA, and the poor bird turned red, purple,orange, and very little green, when I first saw him , and bought him. His temperament had also gone from sweet, to really nasty. I did some reading.l..I found out that this species is only native to the Isthmus of Panama, where iodine is common from salt spray.I added a drop of Lugol's solution of iodine to his water every day, and he returned to being a sweet little green and yellow parrot in 3 months.

 

[groche]

G'day Trev,
size is an issue that concerns many of us here too. The 'official' view seems to be that 'bigger is better'. Here the size issue has zilch to do with dual purpose. It seems to stem from show bird breeders belief that "it's harder to breed a good big one than a small one." Never come across 'difficulty in breeding' in our SOP, but there you go! Doubt if the preoccupation with bigger birds will have any positive effect on laying - what they achieved fame for!!!!
Cheers Geoff

 

[groche]

Another interesting theory from George Norman, based on many year's experience. He says that all birds get some form of cocci. with the majority overcoming it with little effect. His experience is that those that get it bad do so despite feed being medicated. He believes that cocci. causes problems with eye and leg color. "I've seen Australorps, Game, Leghorns and Wyandottes' eye and leg color not match due to cocci. Australorps bred from parents with black eyes and leg color end up brown-eyed and slate legged. I am sure many excellent breeding stocks have been discarded for failing to pass on their good eye and leg color to their young. The culprit perhaps is "coccidiossis". Anyone come across this theory before?
Cheers Geoff

 

[ronott1]

Another interesting theory from George Norman, based on many year's experience. He says that all birds get some form of cocci. with the majority overcoming it with little effect. His experience is that those that get it bad do so despite feed being medicated. He believes that cocci. causes problems with eye and leg color. "I've seen Australorps, Game, Leghorns and Wyandottes' eye and leg color not match due to cocci. Australorps bred from parents with black eyes and leg color end up brown-eyed and slate legged. I am sure many excellent breeding stocks have been discarded for failing to pass on their good eye and leg color to their young. The culprit perhaps is "coccidiossis". Anyone come across this theory before?
Cheers Geoff

No Geoff but that is good point!

We get a lot of do not help chicks to hatch advice based on vigor and survival of the fittest and etc. Actually a lot of the problems with hatching come for improper incubation. Slipped tendons and eye problems caused buy being stuck in a shell will not be passed on to the offspring.

Do you suppose the coccidiosis cysts cause a change in the liver or wherever the pigment is produced?

 

[chasinthedream]

Doubt if the preoccupation with bigger birds will have any positive effect on laying - what they achieved fame for!!!!
Cheers Geoff

Have you noticed a decline in egg production on show quality birds there? I would expect that no one here tests for egg production or would include that in their selection of breeding stock. Appearance is the only consideration I believe.


Quote: Re Coccidiossis - Australorps bred from parents with black eyes and leg color end up brown-eyed and slate legged.

I believe no one knows the birds better than George Norman, but, is it possible this was an out-cross trait far back in the line re-appearing? Or was there no other possible explanation? Amazing what you can learn with that many years of experience.
Trev

 

[groche]

G'day Trev,
As George's birds are from mostly Connor stock, I doubt whether there'd be any outcross involved. The red in the hackle issue goes way back to Cooke's original Orp!!!
As to show bird strains laying capacity, I certainly was apprehensive as I'd been told that the 'Showies' had 'ruined them'. I've kept utility BA's off and on for many years and knew how well they layed. My first show bird breeders were surprisingly good layers for big, fat chooks! Pleasingly, they passed this on to their daughters in spades. They began laying on the first day of winter and haven't stopped. It's now mid summer with sequences of over 40 degree Celsius days. The odd one did go broody. A bit too big and clumsy to make good broodies. A long time breeder from near me bought a dozen of my pullets. He liked the look of my girls, but he was mainly concerned with how well they layed. He'd been using Norman blood, with occasional top-ups, for many years. He complained that fertility and laying had dropped off significantly. I stress that this is one breeder's experience! I guess, as with most breeds, strain is of vital importance. We once had strains of White 'dottes here that layed a huge number of eggs. Not so today!
Cheers Geoff